At its 225th session on 12 December 2025, the CERN Council received the recommendations for the update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics (ESPP), marking a major milestone in the process of defining a common vision for the future of the field. The recommendations will now be reviewed by the Council, with a final decision expected at a dedicated Council Session to be held in Budapest in May 2026.

Launched by the CERN Council in March 2024, the ESPP update aims to develop a visionary and concrete plan to significantly advance fundamental physics through the realisation of the next flagship project at CERN. The strategy is designed to promote strong international collaboration and to enable Europe to maintain a leading role in particle physics.

The ESPP is a bottom-up process involving the European particle physics community, with national input from CERN’s Member and Associate Member States and from international partners. This input was consolidated by the European Strategy Group (ESG), appointed by the CERN Council, following extensive community engagement, including written submissions, an Open Symposium held in Venice in June 2025, and the Physics Briefing Book, published earlier this year as a key reference document for the Strategy update, in October 2025.

For the 2026 update, the CERN Council requested that the Strategy identify a preferred option for the next collider at CERN, as well as prioritised alternatives should the preferred option prove infeasible or uncompetitive. The ESG drafted its recommendations during a dedicated meeting held in Ascona, Switzerland, from 1 to 5 December 2025.

The ESG recommendations span a broad range of topics related to particle physics research in Europe and beyond. In particular, they identify the electron–positron Future Circular Collider (FCC-ee) as the preferred option for the next flagship collider at CERN, subject to the forthcoming decisions of the CERN Council.

As outlined in the recommendations, an FCC-ee would enable a comprehensive precision physics programme, with a strong focus on detailed studies of the Higgs boson, electroweak interactions and the top quark. Such a programme would significantly deepen our understanding of the Standard Model and provide indirect sensitivity to new physics at energy scales well beyond the direct reach of the collider. The ESG also presents a descoped FCC-ee as a prioritised alternative option.

“The ESG recommendations represent a pivotal milestone in the Strategy process and for the future of the field,” said CERN Director-General Fabiola Gianotti. “The proposed strategic directions, in particular concerning the next flagship collider at CERN, will inspire the next generation of scientists and ensure that CERN and its international partners remain at the forefront of discovery and technology in our discipline.”

“During the strategy process we have seen a very strong engagement of the European particle physics community and beyond, expressing their views on the next flagship collider, on other physics and technology areas and topics of importance for our field. Based on this input, we had constructive discussions that, in the end, brought out a very clear picture and strong support for CERN to host the electron-positron Future Circular Collider, FCC-ee, as the next flagship project. In addition, many other important recommendations have been made for the future of our field,” said Karl Jakobs, Chair of the Strategy Secretariat.

The CERN Council will assess the recommendations in the coming months, with a view to taking a decision in May 2026. Any subsequent steps towards a possible construction project would be subject to further evaluation and decisions by the Council at a later stage.

The full set of recommendations is here.